Commissioners face courthouse overhaul, ballfield lease

Published: Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 14, 2014 at 8:08 p.m.

Bids for renovating the 1995 county courthouse on North Grove Street are more than $300,000 over budget, and commissioners on Monday are expected to send the project back to the drawing board.

During their busy meeting Monday, commissioners will also consider a contract to take over scheduling and upkeep of Blue Ridge Community College's baseball field in Flat Rock, a new county flag design and incentives for two local manufacturers planning expansions.

Last July, the Board of Commissioners directed county engineers to proceed with a $1 million renovation to the 1995 courthouse that included construction costs of $750,000 to $800,000. But the low bidder, Marsh Bell Construction Co., came back at $1.12 million.

Since the low bid is about 30 percent over budget, county engineers are recommending commissioners reject all four bids — which fell within $148,800 of each other —and work with courthouse occupants to scale back the project so it's within budget.

County officials said several factors contributed to the low bid being pricier than anticipated. Vice Chairman Tommy Thompson, a former clerk of Superior Court who is the commissioners' liaison on the renovation, said construction costs have changed since plans were drawn and budgets set.

“When we threw out this $1 million figure about a year ago, things were really tight and construction companies and engineers were all looking for work to keep their employees going,” he said. “Presently, however, things are opening up a little bit with the economy and we just can't do for a million dollars what we need to do.”

County Manager Steve Wyatt agreed the improving economy factored into the discrepancy between the working budget and bids, but added, “I think some of the occupants of the courthouse got carried away. I'm not going to point fingers, but the appetite amongst some of the folks was bigger than the purse.”

The good news, said County Engineer Marcus Jones, is that now project architects have “real-world prices” instead of estimates. If commissioners request they revisit the renovations as anticipated, Jones said county staff should be able to meet with courthouse stakeholders and bring back a “Plan B” within 90 to 120 days.

Thompson said that's exactly what he'll support, given that the alternative is allocating $300,000 more to a renovation that isn't going to provide room for future growth.

“In my opinion, we throw the bath water out with the baby and start over with a brand-new plan that looks at other alternatives,” he said. “I would not propose that we spend that kind of money ($300,000), especially since we don't have any room for growth.”

The courthouse renovation was designed to address two main issues, Jones said. A top priority was improving post-9/11 security by adding video cameras, keycard accesses, fenced parking areas for sensitive court personnel and a screening area at the front entrance.

Another priority was creating more room for courthouse users such as the district attorney and public defender offices, register of deeds, clerk of court and tax offices, by reallocating room left by moving court services to a separate building.

Thompson said it's likely some county offices will have to wait for major improvements, since “the greatest need right now is that the DA and the public defenders are falling on top of themselves within their own offices” and there is room downstairs to offer them relief.

“Maybe we leave the register of deeds and tax collector alone and let them deal with what they've got for a period of time and take the (empty space), renovate it minimally to accommodate the DA and public defender, or whoever, and scale back the costs until we can regroup,” he said.

Play ball!

Commissioners will also take up a proposed agreement with BRCC that switches the responsibility for scheduling and maintaining the college's baseball field to Henderson County's Parks and Recreation Department.

Wyatt said he'd offered the county's help in operating and maintaining the baseball field, which BRCC President Molly Parkhill enthusiastically accepted. The college lost its baseball team, the Blue Ridge Bears, in 2010 when the team lacked enough eligible players to compete. The college later dropped its athletic program altogether.

“It's interesting that we've got some folks that are willing to do regular maintenance in exchange for using the field, so we're going to work with the users and make it a community baseball field,” Wyatt said.

The county's existing baseball fields at Jackson Park are “extremely popular,” he added, so “it's a natural partnership, where the community college provides the asset for park and rec folks to manage and it increases capacity for everyone who plays ball.”

In other business Monday, commissioners will look at offering incentives to two local manufacturers considering expansions worth a combined $6.7 million, which would create 27 full-time jobs.

The board will hold a public hearing and consider offering plastics manufacturer Elkamet Inc. up to $42,693 in incentives for adding $2.5 million in new equipment to its East Flat Rock plant. The addition could add 15 full-time jobs paying in excess of $32,000 per year, plus benefits.

Another public hearing will precede consideration of a four-year incentive package of $55,776 for Mona Lisa Foods in Edneyville, which plans to invest $2.2 million in new building and $2 million in new equipment at its existing plant on St. Pauls Road. The company would create 12 jobs paying more than $14.64 an hour, plus benefits.

Commissioners will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse. To view their full agenda, visit www.hendersoncountync.org.

<p>Bids for renovating the 1995 county courthouse on North Grove Street are more than $300,000 over budget, and commissioners on Monday are expected to send the project back to the drawing board.</p><p>During their busy meeting Monday, commissioners will also consider a contract to take over scheduling and upkeep of Blue Ridge Community College's baseball field in Flat Rock, a new county flag design and incentives for two local manufacturers planning expansions.</p><p>Last July, the Board of Commissioners directed county engineers to proceed with a $1 million renovation to the 1995 courthouse that included construction costs of $750,000 to $800,000. But the low bidder, Marsh Bell Construction Co., came back at $1.12 million. </p><p>Since the low bid is about 30 percent over budget, county engineers are recommending commissioners reject all four bids — which fell within $148,800 of each other —and work with courthouse occupants to scale back the project so it's within budget.</p><p>County officials said several factors contributed to the low bid being pricier than anticipated. Vice Chairman Tommy Thompson, a former clerk of Superior Court who is the commissioners' liaison on the renovation, said construction costs have changed since plans were drawn and budgets set.</p><p>“When we threw out this $1 million figure about a year ago, things were really tight and construction companies and engineers were all looking for work to keep their employees going,” he said. “Presently, however, things are opening up a little bit with the economy and we just can't do for a million dollars what we need to do.”</p><p>County Manager Steve Wyatt agreed the improving economy factored into the discrepancy between the working budget and bids, but added, “I think some of the occupants of the courthouse got carried away. I'm not going to point fingers, but the appetite amongst some of the folks was bigger than the purse.”</p><p>The good news, said County Engineer Marcus Jones, is that now project architects have “real-world prices” instead of estimates. If commissioners request they revisit the renovations as anticipated, Jones said county staff should be able to meet with courthouse stakeholders and bring back a “Plan B” within 90 to 120 days.</p><p>Thompson said that's exactly what he'll support, given that the alternative is allocating $300,000 more to a renovation that isn't going to provide room for future growth. </p><p>“In my opinion, we throw the bath water out with the baby and start over with a brand-new plan that looks at other alternatives,” he said. “I would not propose that we spend that kind of money ($300,000), especially since we don't have any room for growth.”</p><p>The courthouse renovation was designed to address two main issues, Jones said. A top priority was improving post-9/11 security by adding video cameras, keycard accesses, fenced parking areas for sensitive court personnel and a screening area at the front entrance.</p><p>Another priority was creating more room for courthouse users such as the district attorney and public defender offices, register of deeds, clerk of court and tax offices, by reallocating room left by moving court services to a separate building. </p><p>Thompson said it's likely some county offices will have to wait for major improvements, since “the greatest need right now is that the DA and the public defenders are falling on top of themselves within their own offices” and there is room downstairs to offer them relief.</p><p>“Maybe we leave the register of deeds and tax collector alone and let them deal with what they've got for a period of time and take the (empty space), renovate it minimally to accommodate the DA and public defender, or whoever, and scale back the costs until we can regroup,” he said.</p><p><b>Play ball!</b></p><p>Commissioners will also take up a proposed agreement with BRCC that switches the responsibility for scheduling and maintaining the college's baseball field to Henderson County's Parks and Recreation Department. </p><p>Wyatt said he'd offered the county's help in operating and maintaining the baseball field, which BRCC President Molly Parkhill enthusiastically accepted. The college lost its baseball team, the Blue Ridge Bears, in 2010 when the team lacked enough eligible players to compete. The college later dropped its athletic program altogether.</p><p>“It's interesting that we've got some folks that are willing to do regular maintenance in exchange for using the field, so we're going to work with the users and make it a community baseball field,” Wyatt said. </p><p>The county's existing baseball fields at Jackson Park are “extremely popular,” he added, so “it's a natural partnership, where the community college provides the asset for park and rec folks to manage and it increases capacity for everyone who plays ball.”</p><p>In other business Monday, commissioners will look at offering incentives to two local manufacturers considering expansions worth a combined $6.7 million, which would create 27 full-time jobs.</p><p>The board will hold a public hearing and consider offering plastics manufacturer Elkamet Inc. up to $42,693 in incentives for adding $2.5 million in new equipment to its East Flat Rock plant. The addition could add 15 full-time jobs paying in excess of $32,000 per year, plus benefits.</p><p>Another public hearing will precede consideration of a four-year incentive package of $55,776 for Mona Lisa Foods in Edneyville, which plans to invest $2.2 million in new building and $2 million in new equipment at its existing plant on St. Pauls Road. The company would create 12 jobs paying more than $14.64 an hour, plus benefits.</p><p>Commissioners will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse. To view their full agenda, visit www.hendersoncountync.org.</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>